{"id":404050,"date":"2026-04-17T21:41:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T21:41:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/404050\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T21:41:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T21:41:09","slug":"moya-brennan-carried-the-rich-soul-of-donegal-to-global-audiences-funeral-told-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/404050\/","title":{"rendered":"Moya Brennan \u2018carried the rich soul of Donegal\u2019 to global audiences, funeral told \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Moya Brennan<\/a> was remembered as a musician who \u201ccarried the rugged beauty of Donegal to audiences right across the world\u201d at her funeral in Co Donegal<\/a> on Friday.<\/p>\n

Her sister Enya<\/a>, collaborators U2<\/a>, fellow Clannad<\/a> bandmates and brothers P\u00f3l and Ciar\u00e1n Brennan were among the musicians and family members who gathered to pay their respects to the multi-award-winning singer at St Patrick\u2019s Church in Crolly.<\/p>\n

Daniel O\u2019Donnell<\/a> and Andrea Corr<\/a> were also in attendance, with O\u2019Donnell performing Here I Am Lord with his wife Majella during Communion. <\/p>\n

Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin and President Catherine Connolly were represented by Comdt Joseph Glennon and Comdt Barry Dolan respectively. <\/p>\n

In a bilingual service, Fr Brian \u00d3 Fearraigh told mourners that \u201cthrough her voice and her gift in playing the harp, Moya carried the rugged beauty, and that quiet strength, ancient timeless mystery and rich soul of Donegal to audiences right across the world. <\/p>\n

\"MoyaMoya Brennan’s husband, Tim Jarvis, speaking with Bono and The Edge from U2 at the funeral. Photograph: Alan Betson <\/p>\n

\u201cRinn\u00e9 s\u00ed \u00e9 sin. She did that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The funeral saw the small Gaeltacht church overflowing with attendees, with tents and loudspeakers set up outside to allow mourners to pay their respects. <\/p>\n

The service took place less than 3km from Leo\u2019s Tavern, Moya Brennan\u2019s father\u2019s pub, where she formed Clannad.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Moya Brennan\u2019s exceptional voice with Clannad\u2019s sound was uniqueOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Addressing the congregation, \u00d3 Fearraigh said: \u201cMoya Brennan was above all a woman of music, a woman of melody, a woman of motherhood, and a woman of mission. She knew that her gift was from God. <\/p>\n

\u201cShe used that gift well, allowing her harp and voice to harmonise in a wonderful way and become instruments of beauty, instruments of peace, instruments of blessing the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

As well as paying tribute to her status as the \u201cfirst lady of Celtic music,\u201d \u00d3 Fearraigh said Moya Brennan would be remembered for \u201cher faith, for her music, and the lasting grace she brought into the lives of so many people, in so many different ways\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"MoyaMoya Brennan’s family members outside the church, including Enya and her brother P\u00f3l (centre). Photograph: Alan Betson<\/p>\n

The priest said her appeal reached people across all social backgrounds. \u201cShe sang for the uasal agus \u00edseal (high and low society), popes and presidents, the poor and the forgotten. Her music crossed every boundary because in a way it spoke the language of every human heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

The singer died at home in her native Co Donegal<\/a> aged 73 on Monday. In her later years, she had been living with pulmonary fibrosis and faced the possibility of a double lung transplant. <\/p>\n

Music was central to the funeral Mass, in which all songs and arrangements were chosen by Moya Brennan herself before her death.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Tributes to Moya Brennan: \u2018Her voice was the signature sound of Clannad\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Two of her own recordings were selected: Peacemaker, which features the voice of her son Paul when he was four years old, as the entrance music, and Perfect Time for reflection after Communion. Moya Brennan performed the latter song live for pope John Paul II and 2.1 million audience members at the 2000 World Youth Day in Rome. <\/p>\n

The presentation of life symbols included a harp, a bodhr\u00e1n from her Clubeo open mic night for young Donegal artists, a laminated pass from her final concert<\/a> and a family photo of her winning the 2023 Donegal Person of the Year. <\/p>\n

P\u00f3l and Ciar\u00e1n Brennan performed a moving rendition of Eleanor Plunkett with harpist Cormac De Barra, who has previously made up part of the ensemble of the Moya Brennan Band.<\/p>\n

\"MoyaMoya Brennan’s remains were buried at Magheragallon Cemetery. Photograph: Alan Betson <\/p>\n

An Mhaighdean Mhara was performed by Altan vocalist Mair\u00e9ad N\u00ed Mhaonaigh and traditional vocalist Maighread N\u00ed Dhomhnaill. <\/p>\n

Additional performances were provided by C\u00f3r Ph\u00e1draig and C\u00f3r Mhuire, which are the choirs of St Patrick\u2019s Church and St Mary\u2019s Church in Derrybeg, as well as singer \u00c9oin \u00d3 Fearraigh, organist Leonard Dorian and folk band Clann Mhic Ruair\u00ed. <\/p>\n

Moya Brennan\u2019s remains were buried at the Magheragallon Cemetery in Gaoth Dobhair, overlooking Magheragallon beach. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Moya Brennan was remembered as a musician who \u201ccarried the rugged beauty of Donegal to audiences right across…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":404051,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[16148,1485,93,61,60,175773],"class_list":{"0":"post-404050","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-clannad","9":"tag-donegal","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-moya-brennan"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=404050"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404050\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/404051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=404050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=404050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=404050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}